No Surrender (Poetry)

You know it’s a losing game
but you fight anyway
pretend there’s some point
in simply hanging on
for the hell of it

Defiance has always
been your thing
a long-perfected skill
self-taught
from an early age
and now quietly employed
to almost fool us into thinking
you’ve got this
practically
under control

We play along
let the audacious bluff stand
talk future plans
as though you might have one
for a camping holiday in the Lakes
has to be more fun
than a funeral

You crack jokes despite
laughing hurts you
really hurts you
makes your eyes water
but you don’t give in
instead you do the impossible thing
and live another day
altogether too stubborn
to take the easy way